Pauktuutit trains Inuit AIDS educators

MONTREAL — If you don’t know whether getting a “Prince Albert” can infect you with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, then you’re in good company.

None of the 42 Inuit who attended two recent workshops on HIV and AIDS education in Ottawa got the right answer either.

But it’s a question that a Grade 5 student in Nunavut actually asked.

This curious student wanted to know whether piercing the head of his penis, that is, receiving a “Prince Albert,” could be considered a risky activity – one that could potentially transmit the HIV virus.

And the correct reply?

“Yes, it’s safe, provided it’s done with a sterile needle,” said Todd Armstrong, senior advisor for HIV/AIDS programs at Pauktuutit, the national Inuit women’s association. “If you’re tatooing or piercing each others’ bodies, it’s important to do it cleanly and not share needles.”

How to give a complete answer to this kind of question was discussed during the five-day workshops organized by Pauktuutit.

Last April, Pauktuutit received $340,000 from Health Canada to educate community members about HIV and AIDS and lay the groundwork for a grass-roots Inuit AIDS network.

“People are aware about HIV and AIDS, but I don’t think that they are really talking,” said Rita Anilniliak, who works with Pauktuutit in Ottawa. “I think a lot of people are still afraid.”

People infected with the HIV virus have visited some communities in the North to talk about HIV and AIDS, but most Inuit with the illness don’t live or die in the North.

“So, a lot of people think it’s not going to happen to them,” said Pitseolak Kilabuk from Pangnirtung.

“And they used to think that isolation protected them,” Armstrong said. “But now they’re finding out that they’re not so isolated after all, with the introduction of television and Internet.”

During the workshops, participants learned the words used to talk about sexual activity. They looked at the slang young people use, as well as the traditional terms used in Inuktitut.

Everyone received a CD recording by Iqaluit musician and singer Lucie Idlout, to use as a discussion tool for HIV and AIDS. It’s her version of a song by country singer Reba McEntire, sung in Inuktitut and English, about how one woman contracted HIV.

Participants were also able to experience first-hand how it feels to have HIV or AIDS when they received a name tag that told others how to treat them.

Morty Iqqaqsaq from Arctic Bay ended up with a name tag telling people to “turn away.”

“Everytime I had to shake someone’s hand, they tried to walk away from me. I hated it. I realized how much those HIV carriers are isolated,” Morty said.

Participants also looked at HIV prevention – and how to teach condom use.

Jason Leblanc from Goose Bay, the executive assistant at Ottawa’s Inuit community centre, Tungasuvinngat Inuit, thought he knew how to use a condom. That is, until he tried to break it down into a step-by-step process, the way he’d have to if he wants to teach others how to wear a condom.

“There was more to it than just pulling it out and putting it on,” Jason admitted.

Participants at last week’s workshop attended a reception on Parliament Hill where they received encouragement from MP Nancy Karetak Lindell, Sen. Charlie Watt, and Sen. George Romkey from Labrador.

This strengthened their resolve to bring information to young people, and also to their parents and elders, to recruit them as partners in HIV/AIDS prevention and education.

“Some people still feel that because we’re talking about it, we’re promoting it,” Pitseolak said.

Pitseolak intends to rally more understanding and support in her home community.

“All the people who attended these workshops are remarkably brave, said Todd Armstrong. “The challenge now is for the community to help them, not undermine them.”